Education

“You, the class of 2025, hold a special place in my heart, and in my career,” Sara Smith, the principal of East Hampton High School, told the graduating seniors as they sat together under a large white tent on the school’s lawn for their commencement ceremony last Friday evening. “You entered ninth grade as I entered as principal, and in many ways we grew into our current positions together.”

High school graduation ceremonies take place Friday in East Hampton and Saturday at Pierson High School in Sag Harbor. In East Hampton, 241 students will graduate under a tent on the school grounds at 6 p.m. Pierson’s ceremony takes place at 5 p.m. Saturday on Pierson Hill.

The Children’s Museum of the East End celebrated the grand opening of a brand-new playground — a goal the museum’s co-presidents, Liz Bard and Lara Sweeney, have been working toward for four years.

A new gymnasium and a marine biology wet lab may be in the cards for the Sag Harbor School District. According to Jeff Nichols, the district superintendent, the plans are still in their early days, but he hopes to put a bond referendum for the project to a public vote by the fall.

The 2025 valedictorians and salutatorians at East Hampton and Pierson High Schools already have résumés that put most of us to shame, and they’re just getting started. Along with their academic successes, they are standout musicians, athletes, and volunteers.

Camp SoulGrow, a nonprofit, donation-based program for children ages 7 to 12, is returning to Montauk for the summer of 2025 — and its founder, London Rosiere, “can’t wait to be home.”

East Hampton Town’s junior lifeguard program, for ages 9 to 15, will begin this weekend at Atlantic Avenue Beach in Amagansett and Kirk Park in Montauk.

The autopsy of why the Montauk School’s $38 million capital renovation plan failed last month continued Tuesday night at a special workshop at the school.

On Thursday, Citarella kicked off its summer fund-raising campaign for the East End Fund for Children, which supports programs at the Bridgehampton Childcare and Recreational Center, the Children's Museum of the East End, the Eleanor Whitmore Early Childhood Center, I-Tri, Project Most, the Retreat, and the Southampton Youth Association.

The ribbon was cut last Thursday on a new outdoor patio just off the cafeteria at the East Hampton High School that has shaded lunch tables with built-in seating, along with multiple charging stations with outlets and USB ports. 

With Gov. Kathy Hochul having approved a statewide bell-to-bell cellphone ban starting in the fall, East Hampton High School is looking into begin using Yondr pouches, similar to those already employed in the Sag Harbor School District, to ensure that the school is in compliance. 

The East Hampton School District celebrated retiring staff members, including Kerri Stevens, the district clerk and secretary to the superintendent, who is leaving after 35 years in the district. 

The inaugural class of East Hampton High School’s automotive program, run in partnership with the Board of Cooperative Educational Services, graduated in a ceremony at the school’s transportation depot on Springs-Fireplace Road, marking a proud milestone for the district as well as the 16 graduates and their families. 

Fund-raisers for the nonprofits Dragon Wagon Books and Our Fabulous Variety Show are on tap this week, as is a teen fashion show at Guild Hall featuring original designs made from repurposed and upcycled materials.

Among the many awards and scholarships announced at the East Hampton High School senior awards night last Thursday were two from local businesses. 

A young filmmaker program sponsored by Concerned Citizens of Montauk introduces middle-school students to a wide range of the nonprofit's environmental projects, integrating science, technology, engineering, arts, and math, and culminating in a film about what they’ve learned. 

Two South Fork institutions — the Children’s Museum of the East End and the Watermill Center — have big events planned for families on Saturday, and both are free.

The Springs School Journalism Club’s final meeting of the year last week was also the last meeting for Rafaela (Rafa) DeMartis, a dedicated member of the club since September 2023, who is graduating in June.

After the failure last week of a $38.41 million bond proposition that would have allowed for long-delayed renovations to the Montauk School, the school board and superintendent began to regroup this week, discussing how it could better engage with the community to build support for the project and what form the project should ultimately take.

On May 9, Springs School junior high students flooded into their gymnasium in beautiful gowns and fancy wear as beams of light fluttered along the walls and banners and streamers adorned the room for the Masquerade Ball.

As school districts across the East End tallied budget and school board votes Tuesday night, all eyes were on Montauk, where a $38.41 million renovation bond ended up failing by just 43 votes, with a record number of people weighing in. 

After a few years of inflationary pressures that had some school districts here piercing the state-mandated cap on tax levy increases, this year the easternmost districts on the South Fork are all proposing budgets for the 2025-26 school year that stay at or below the cap and will require only a simple majority to pass when voters go to the polls on Tuesday.

As the district works to put a tumultous period behind it, two incumbents on the board — Wayne Gauger and Kristen Peterson — are seeking re-election, with a third — Joseph Karpinski —- a parent of three children at the school and a vocal critic of the board and certain administrators, also vying for one of two seats.

Sam Schneider, assistant superintendent for business at the East Hampton School District, has been named the Gregory E. Carlson Outstanding School Business Official of the Year by the New York Association of School Business Officials.

Springs School students enjoyed the annual Buy One Get One book fair recently, especially liking the fact that they get a free book for every one that they buy, thanks to the Springs School PTA.

I love getting a good book recommendation from friends and hearing what resonated deeply for them about a book. Now I’m passing their recommendation on to any bookworms reading the column so we can all be connected by these cherished books

In the Springs School District three people are running for two seats. The incumbents Erik Fredrickson and Emma Field are seeking second terms, while Gerard Picco is running for his first.

Only one name, Leigh-Ann Hess, will appear on the ballot to replace Diane Hausman on the Montauk School Board this year, but a late challenger, Tara Coleman, has mounted a write-in campaign.

After two challenging years coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, which the Wainscott School Board president described as “probably the darkest moment in the history of the district,” the school has “met the challenge” from both a financial and program perspective, David Eagan told the hamlet’s citizens advisory committee on Saturday.

As the weather warms, opportunities for outdoor activities for kids are also heating up. New offerings beginning next week include an after-school sailing program at the Breakwater Yacht Club in Sag Harbor and tennis clinics at the Amagansett Youth Park.